Turkiye to hand over military base to Iraq
ANKARA: Turkiye will hand over control of its base in Bashiqa in northern Iraq to Baghdad, the Turkish presidency announced Wednesday in a joint statement with its neighbour.
Turkiye has agreed to hand over control of its military base in Bashiqa, northern Iraq, to the Iraqi federal government, following a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The joint statement, issued by the Turkish presidency, indicates that the handover process will follow an agreed mechanism and timeline, though no specific date was specified.
The US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, welcomed the agreement, highlighting how it serves both Iraqi sovereignty and Turkish security interests. The base, established by Turkey in December 2015 with up to 600 soldiers, had previously sparked tensions with Iraq, which accused Turkey of violating its sovereignty.
In addition to the base handover, Turkey and Iraq have also agreed to restore state authority in Sinjar and eliminate the presence of illegal foreign armed elements.
Brief written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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